In Pinay's footsteps is my Travel Blog which follows me where I go.
It may be just around here, where I live my life . . .
and also around there (my travels), where I am able to learn and experience new places and things . . .
Some of these date back to way back when...
Most of my travels are incidental to other things I do . . .
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Monday, February 4, 2013

LAYAG-LAYAG YELLOW BOAT VILLAGE: SEAWEEDS

A friend of mine asked me, "Why do they continue to live in stilt houses? Couldn't they live in solid grounds?"

I asked for Doc Anton's help and he answered: "The
Tausug are sea people. Culturally, they are more at ease in water. But are also
informal settlers who don't have the means to own property inland. Their main
livelihood are fishing and seaweed farming that necessitates them to live near
the shoreline."

The Philippines is considered the world’s leading supplier
of Eucheuma, comprising about 80% of the total world supply (SIAP, 1996).
In 1990, the country’s total seaweed farm production reached a high
of about 400,000 metric tons of fresh Eucheuma seaweeds planted by about
80,000 seaweed farmers/ families. Today, seaweed production and processing
have become a high value and profitable livelihood activity in many
marginal seafarming communities as well as profitable enterprises in urban
centers of the
country.

It is of great demand in the global market due to its diversified uses
of carrageenan, which is used as stabilizer, gelling agent, thickener,
binder and additive for various dairy products, cosmetics, pet
food, meat processing and beer bottling industries. Seaweed farming
also requires less capital than any other aquaculture species, not labor-intensive and does not need
inputs that are potentially harmful to the environment.

The seaweed farms are practically out in the open sea. We passed by these farms on the way to the Layag-Layag Village.

This picture may not be photographically perfect but I would like to show you the expanse of the sea... the paradise of the sea people... their source of work... their life!

The seaweed farm: The sea is dotted by plastic bottles. Oh no! These are not garbage!!!

Here, they are used as buoys and underneath these bottles are the seaweeds, waiting to grow!

The floating monoline method has the
following advantages over the fixed, bottom monoline method: a)
grazing by bottom-associated animals is minimized or eliminated because
the plants are raised out of reach of benthic grazers b) plants near the
surface of the water column are exposed to more moderate water movement
caused by waves.

The seaweed farmers:

The seaweeds are harvested:

Harvest after 2-3 months. Take the whole plants but leave enough for the replanting of new cuttings.

The seaweeds are brought to the houses:

This is the Eucheuma spp.

The seaweeds are tied into bundles.

Four bundles would weight about a kilo!

A kilo of seaweeds could be sold for P4.00 OR P1.00 per bundle!

But they could have a thousand kilos or ten thousand kilos of seaweeds per one to two months depending on the weather and other natural factors.

Spread the
harvested seaweeds evenly on a bamboo platform. Remove other species of
algae, “tie-tie” or other extraneous materials like rocks, sands and others.
Never dry the seaweed directly on sand to avoid contamination. In the absence
of a drying platform, use coconut palms as flooring.

During sunny
days, turn over the seaweeds regularly within two to three days and four
to five days when cloudy. When properly dried, Eucheuma has a rubbery
touch [30% moisture].

Pack dried
materials in plastic sacks and store in a dry and
well-ventilated place.

The dried seaweeds would now cost about P38.00 / kilo.

Remove other species of algae, “tie-tie” or other extraneous materials like rocks, sands and others.

We now understand a bit, why they would want to continue to live there throughout the year.

This is where they live their lives... their livelihood... and yes, they say continue to stay on even when there are typhoons!

16 comments:

Tausugs are one of the 13 ethno linguistic tribes of Bangsamoro people, like the other basic masses of the Philippine society, they are poor, marginalized, neglected by the government and suffers discriminationi am with them in fighting for their democratic rights and self-determination

What a remarkable story... I had no idea about the amount of work that goes into harvesting and packaging seaweed. TY for this one. BTW, I forgot to add my blog to this week's bc list, a visit would be appreciated.Eliz